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Thursday, January 22, 2015

"GOP’s about-face: Poverty a key 2016 issue"

Great to speak with Carla Marinucci of the San Franicsco Chronicle for this one.

“I don’t think you have to be poor to talk about poverty or a minority to talk about minority rights,” said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.

Still, regarding Romney and Bush specifically, “it feels like a pretty quick shift,” especially considering some of their more recent public comments lambasting Democrats and President Obama on income inequality issues, which have been defined by some disapproving conservative Republicans as “redistributing wealth.”

While raising the issue could help both Republicans reach some low-income Southern and Bible Belt supporters, it may not help them expand their appeal to traditionally Democratic Latinos and African Americans, she said.

Levinson also noted that the theme may not be a winner with some of the most influential decision makers when it comes to the 2016 GOP nominee.

“In every campaign, you’re talking to voters — and donors,” Levinson said. Kashkari had to confront a question that both Romney and Bush will soon face, she said: “Is talking about poverty music to Republican donors’ ears?”